


Indian Summer

by Elisabeth Hurst (Leela)



Category: Forever Knight
Genre: F/F, Vampires, femmeslash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-15
Updated: 2009-11-15
Packaged: 2017-10-02 22:10:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leela/pseuds/Elisabeth%20Hurst
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the events of Human Factor, Janette seeks solace in the embrace of an old friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Indian Summer

**Author's Note:**

> Written and originally published in 1996. The following are my original intro notes:
> 
> A couple of things before the story unfolds.
> 
> This story occurs after Human Factor and contains spoilers for those who haven't yet seen the episode.
> 
> I lived in India for about a year and a half when I was young. The description of Bombay is as accurate as my memories can make it and may bear little or no resemblance to the Mumbai of today.
> 
> Heartfelt thanks and much appreciation to my beta readers batdina and chelseagirl.

Bombay simmered beneath the late afternoon sun. The air rippled visibly in the smothering heat, and was rendered barely breathable by the stench rising from the open sewers, piles of filth by the roadside and the thousands of unwashed bodies.

The noise was almost as bad as the smell. Buses, trucks and cars raced past each other on the road. The drivers honked and shouted at each other whenever two vehicles almost met in the middle, something that occurred every two or three minutes. Passengers filled the buses to overflowing, crowding the inside, perched on the roof and clinging to the outside from the bars on the windows. They conversed loudly, yelling at other in the bus, on the street or in passing vehicles.

Beggars wandered the streets — the untouchables. Women clutching babies who may or may not have been theirs. Men brandishing limbs and other body parts that were eaten away with leprosy, swollen and covered with the running sores indicative of elephantitis, or mangled by accident or assault.

The worst were the children — dragging around bodies that had been twisted and mutilated by their own parents — they held out their hands to the passing whites and upper castes, chanting in barely understandable English, "Me no mama, me no papa, only five paisa."

Those who had lived in India long enough, native and white, barely even noticed the clamour. Each had made arrangements with one or more of the untouchables, making regular weekly payments to avoid being harassed. Brahmins and members of other high castes moved cautiously, ensuring that they never defiled themselves by coming into contact with a beggar. The results of such contact could be catastrophic. Anyone with a modicum of self-respect tended to commit suicide and take their chances on the next turn of the wheel.

The tourists carefully averted their eyes from the masses of damaged humanity, unable to conceal the horror that shuddered over their faces. Occasionally a luckless soul would dig into a pocket or purse and throw some small change at a beggar; only to regret it moments later when they were swarmed by the multitudes.

High above the streets, in a large suite on the top floor of the Taj Mahal Hotel, peace reigned. Heavy drapes kept out the sunlight. The quiet vibrations of the air conditioning reduced the sounds from outside to a barely perceptible murmur. A ceiling fan whirred silently, caressing skin with gentle currents of cool air.

The occupants lay on the bed, legs entwined, upper bodies apart. Pale skin gleamed next to dark. Chitra slept on her back, one arm flung above her head, the other crossed over her chest. Janette lay on her side and watched. After a few moments, Janette reached out and smoothed the other woman's dark hair off her face.

"You didn't sleep?" Chitra opened her eyes. A slight lilt in her voice was all that remained of her accent after so many centuries spent travelling the world.

Janette shrugged, a liquid rise and fall of her shoulder. "I had a lot to think about."

Disentangling herself, Chitra sat upright, pushing the pillows into a comfortable position. "Are you ready to talk about it?"

"Yes... I think so." Janette got up and moved across the room. She paused in front of the floor-length mirror and surveyed herself. Inclining her head slightly, she arranged herself in an armchair. "I'm not really sure where to begin."

"At the beginning?"

"I don't think that's necessary — at least not this time."

"Then start wherever you think appropriate." Chitra crossed her legs, assumed a half-lotus position and leaned back against the pillows. "Did you love him?"

Janette narrowed her eyes and considered the question. "Which one? The mortal or the vampire?"

"Either. Both."

"Both. Definitely both" Memories flashed through Janette's eyes and were ruthlessly subdued. "Robert is dead. I do not wish to speak of him."

"Then don't." There was no emotion displayed on Chitra's face as she observed the other woman, only the twitching of her fingers revealed her inner distress. "I will never force you to do anything against your will."

"I know." Surprise and gratitude were evident in Janette's voice. "Nicolas, then. I have loved him for almost eight hundred years. He is my brother, my lover, my friend. He is also the one who infected me with his pathetic yearning for mortality."

"Which is why you ran away." The Indian vampire was inhumanly still.

"I never..." Janette stopped mid-sentence. "Perhaps you are right. I ran away because I did not truly want mortality. Such delicious irony, no? To run away from something only to find yourself trapped in its clutches."

Chitra smiled briefly. "Karma is inescapable. It leads us wherever we go."

"LaCroix would disagree. He believes himself to be master of his own destiny."

"He is Roman." Chitra said flatly, as if no further explanation was required.

The two vampires stared at each other, then Chitra rose from the bed and sank down on the floor, leaning back against Janette's legs.

"Nicolas is obsessed with his search for mortality. When he was first brought across, he suffered from the same doubts as the rest of us, but they disappeared after a few days. For centuries, he revelled in the power of the vampire, hunting and feeding with reckless abandon. When that pleasure palled, he grew restless and unhappy, blaming it all on his vampire nature and convincing himself that becoming human again would solve all his problems. He has chased this hopeless dream for the last hundred years or so." One hand toying with strands of Chitra's heavy, dark hair, Janette sighed and continued, "I never wanted mortality. All it ever brought me was vulnerability, pain and suffering. But when it was thrust upon me, I accepted it."

"And when it was stolen from you again?"

"I was confused. So many different emotions at the same time. I was angry... angry that Nicolas brought me back across without consent; gratified that he did it out of need and love for me; glad to be a vampire again; and hurt that he would bring me back across and not ask me to stay with him. I did some unforgivable things after he brought me back across."

"Unforgivable? Such a strong word. They must have been truly horrendous acts." Chitra rested her head on Janette's knee, softly stroking the bare skin.

Janette's fingers tightened in Chitra's hair, but the Indian vampire remained silent, unmoving, waiting for her to continue. "The renewed power was intoxicating. I killed the men who chased a mortal woman from Montreal to Toronto. I played with them for hours, letting them believe I was still mortal. Then, when I tired of the game, I drained them and abandoned their bodies where they would be sure to come to Nicolas' attention."

"Will he send the Enforcers after you?"

"Non. Never." An undefinable mixture of emotions added an edge to Janette's voice. "Dr. Natalie Lambert, his pet mortal coroner, will cover up the deaths for him. She hides the victims of Toronto's vampire community under reams of paperwork and unintelligible medical terminology. At the same time, she runs experiments on Nicolas that would bring the Enforcers down on Toronto faster than a whirlwind if they ever learned the truth — all in the name of helping Nicolas regain his lost mortality so they can live happily ever after."

Janette abruptly released her grip and stalked to the window. She stared at the heavy drapes as she spoke, "He doesn't even know if he loves her, whether he's attracted to her or to her mortality ... and he's too scared to find out. He worries about it constantly; afraid that if she discovers that he doesn't love her, she will stop searching for a way to bring him back across."

"Does she love him?" Concern etched itself briefly over Chitra's face and then smoothed out.

"Natalie? I don't know. I'm the last person she would tell." Bowing her head, Janette poked at the thick pile of the carpet with her toes. "If I were to guess, I would say that she doesn't know either. She is both attracted and repelled by the vampire — the darkness within him — but she denies the attraction. Whenever his vampiric nature comes to the fore, she backs away. How can she love him if she cannot accept such an intrinsic part of his being?"

Chitra unfolded her legs and walked up behind Janette, sliding her arms around the other woman's waist and resting her head on her shoulder. "And so you came back here."

"Yes." Janette expelled the word in a long, drawn-out sigh. "I needed to be safe, to be some place where I was wanted, while I re-learned the limitations imposed on a fledgling."

"That must be difficult. A brief taste of mortality would not be enough to erase the habits of a millennium." Chitra breathed deeply, inhaling the scent of Janette's hair. "But repeated feedings from the blood of an ancient vampire would be sufficient to increase the powers of a fledgling."

Janette turned around in Chitra's embrace until they were facing each other. "That is not the only reason why I came to you."

"But it *is* one of the reasons."

"Mais oui." Janette averted her gaze, refusing to meet Chitra's eyes. "I cannot deny that."

"Good." Chitra smiled and placed one finger under Janette's chin, raising it. "Your reasons are irrelevant. What is important is that you are here, and I intend to take full advantage of you for however long you stay."

"Perhaps we can take advantage of each other." Janette's lips curled seductively as the pair moved slowly back to the bed, holding tightly to each other.

* * * * *


	2. Summer Promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the events of Human Factor, Janette finds solace in the embrace of an old friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's for batdina.

Chitra paused at the edge of the king-size bed, releasing her grip on Janette. Slowly, as if in a dream, they turned to face each other.

Janette lifted one hand and brushed her knuckles over the dark skin of Chitra's jaw line. Wonder filled her eyes. "It is so good to be with someone who demands so little from me."

"Ah, but you're wrong." Chitra grasped Janette's fingers and brought them to her lips. "In asking that you be true to yourself, I demand far more than anyone else ever has."

"Peut-etre." Janette smiled enigmatically and stepped closer.

They stood unmoving, lost in their own separate worlds, dusky skin against pale. The breeze from the ceiling fan teased tendrils of hair and caused their nipples to harden slightly. Janette opened her mouth to speak, but changed her mind and leaned forward to kiss Chitra instead. Their bodies touched as the kiss deepened.

Chitra felt Janette's fangs lengthen and pulled back. "Slowly, lover. We have all the time in the world."

In response, Janette pulled Chitra on to the bed. They lay on their sides; Chitra's leg between Janette's. Hands caressed skin. Lips met, soft at first, then harder.

Chitra pushed Janette on to her back. Raised on one elbow, the Indian vampire began to trace abstract patterns with her free hand. Her fingers barely touched the pale skin, skimming up and down, circling breasts, stomach, hips. Muscles twitched as Chitra drew her nails lightly over the sensitive skin just below the navel. Bending her head, she flicked one nipple with her tongue, then the other.

Janette moaned and reached out, tangling one hand in Chitra's heavy, black hair, the other stroking her lover's back.

Teeth scraped Janette's nipples, not quite hard enough to draw blood. Her back arched then relaxed as Chitra moved downwards, biting and sucking, but never breaking the skin. When she reached the triangle of hair at the base of Janette's pelvis, Chitra caught her eyes. Grinning impishly, she parted the curls and licked once. Satisfied by the sudden jerking of Janette's hips, Chitra moved forward and placed a brief kiss on her lover's lips.

"Witch." Janette breathed, drawing Chitra down, raising her hips until Chitra's upper thigh was trapped between her own. She braced herself then twisted, flipping Chitra onto her back. "Turnabout is fair play, cherie."

Janette sat up and allowed the vampire to emerge. She scraped her fangs across Chitra's inner thighs. Chitra let her legs fall apart. Janette dug a little harder and broke through the skin. She moved from one to the other, lapping the blood that welled in the cuts, feeling them heal beneath her tongue. Over and over, inching ever so slowly closer to the hair nesting at the top. Chitra sucked in her breath involuntarily as Janette's fingertips exposed the nub hidden beneath the curls. She mewled as Janette's tongue teased and swirled. Pleasure built up, higher and higher. Janette suckled and probed. Chitra's hips rose and fell rhythmically, then shuddered as ecstasy exploded throughout her body.

Janette slid her body over Chitra's. They lay quietly in each other's arms, kissing hard enough for fangs to scratch lips — blood mingling with the taste of Chitra on Janette's tongue.

After a brief respite, Chitra cradled Janette in one arm and slid her lips down over chin and neck. She paused over the jugular vein, sensing the slow surging of blood beneath the skin. Janette's head curved back as Chitra nibbled shoulder and neck. A thumbnail grazing her clitoris made Janette gasp in surprise. Chitra inserted a finger into her vagina, moving it slightly in and out, rubbing her thumb faster and faster. Sensations whirled through Janette. When Chitra sensed that her lover was close to the edge, she sank her fangs deep into the vein. Blood gushed into her mouth, bringing sorrow and joy.

Janette surrendered to the rapture. She revelled in the waves that crashed through her veins then, when the ache in her fangs was almost overwhelming, bit deeply into Chitra's neck. Powerful ancient blood filled her, drew her upwards.

Blood flowed through them both. Fusing together. Memories racing from one to the other. Faster and faster. Euphoria flamed ever higher, then erupted into a kaleidoscope of shattered images.

Janette and Chitra relaxed in the aftermath, savouring the distilled emotions. Curled up around each other, safe in the haven of each other's arms, they drifted into sleep.

~finis


End file.
